Editing Directory Entries

Loom provides powerful editing capabilities that let you modify LDAP entries directly from the browser interface.

Modifications are immediately applied to the LDAP server. Always verify changes carefully, especially in production environments.

Editing Attribute Values

Select an Entry

Navigate to the entry you want to edit in the tree panel.The detail panel shows all attributes for the selected entry.

Focus Detail Panel

Press Tab to move focus to the detail panel.

Select an Attribute

Use j/k or arrow keys to select the attribute you want to edit.

Enter Edit Mode

Press e or Enter to open the editor for that attribute.An input dialog appears with the current value.

Modify the Value

Edit the text as needed:

Type to enter text
Backspace to delete
Ctrl+U to clear the field
Ctrl+W to delete previous word

Save Changes

Press Enter to save, or Esc to cancel.The change is immediately sent to the LDAP server.

If the modification succeeds, you’ll see a confirmation message in the status bar. If it fails, an error message explains why.

Multi-Valued Attributes

Many LDAP attributes can have multiple values (like objectClass, mail, or member).

Adding a Value

Select the Attribute

Navigate to a multi-valued attribute in the detail panel.

Press +

Press + to add a new value to the attribute.

Enter New Value

Type the new value and press Enter.The value is added to the attribute’s list.

Example:

mail:
  • [email protected]
  • [email protected]    ← Select this
  
Press +, type [email protected] → Enter

mail:
  • [email protected]
  • [email protected]
  • [email protected]  ← New value added

Editing a Specific Value

For multi-valued attributes:

Navigate to the specific value you want to edit
Press e or Enter
Edit the value
Press Enter to save

The specific value is replaced; other values remain unchanged.

Deleting a Value

Select the Value

Navigate to the specific value you want to delete.

Press Delete

Press d or Delete.

Confirm

A confirmation dialog appears. Press y to confirm or n to cancel.

Some attributes are required by the entry’s object classes. Deleting a required attribute will fail with an error.

Adding New Attributes

You can add new attributes to an entry:

Focus Detail Panel

Ensure the detail panel is focused (press Tab if needed).

Press a

Press a to open the “Add Attribute” dialog.

Select Attribute

A list of available attributes appears, filtered by the entry’s object classes.

Type to search for an attribute name
Use j/k to navigate the list
Press Enter to select

Only attributes allowed by the entry’s schema are shown. This prevents adding invalid attributes.

Enter Value

After selecting an attribute, enter its value and press Enter.The attribute is added to the entry on the server.

Example adding a telephoneNumber:

Press 'a'
Type "tele" to filter
Select "telephoneNumber" from list
Enter "+1-555-0123"
Press Enter

→ telephoneNumber: +1-555-0123 is added to the entry

DN-Valued Attributes

Some attributes store Distinguished Names (DNs) as values, like:

member (group members)
manager (reporting manager)
seeAlso (related entries)

When editing DN-valued attributes, Loom provides DN Search Mode:

Using DN Search Mode

Start Editing

Press e on a DN-valued attribute (like member).The DN search interface appears.

Search for Entry

Type a search term (like a person’s name).Loom performs a live search and shows matching entries.

Select Entries

Use j/k to navigate results
Press Space to toggle selection (multi-select)
Press Enter when done

Selected DNs are added to the attribute.

Example adding group members:

Editing: member

┌─ Search for DN ─────────────────────────┐
│ alice                                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [✓] cn=Alice Smith,ou=users,dc=ex...   │
│ [ ] cn=Alice Jones,ou=users,dc=ex...   │
│                                         │
│ Space:toggle  Enter:add  Esc:cancel    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

You can select multiple DNs at once by pressing Space on each entry before pressing Enter.

Creating New Entries

Create new entries as children of existing entries:

Select Parent Entry

Navigate to the entry that will be the parent (in the tree panel).

Press a (Tree) or n (Detail)

From tree panel: Press a
From detail panel: Press n

Both open the “Create Entry” dialog.

Enter RDN

Enter the Relative Distinguished Name (RDN) for the new entry.Examples:

cn=NewUser
ou=NewDepartment
uid=jsmith

The RDN must include an attribute=value pair. This becomes the naming attribute for the entry.

Specify Object Classes

Enter one or more object classes, comma-separated.Examples:

inetOrgPerson,posixAccount
organizationalUnit
groupOfNames

You must include at least one structural object class. The schema determines which classes are allowed together.

Add Extra Attributes (Optional)

Enter additional attributes as comma-separated attribute=value pairs.Example:

sn=Smith,[email protected],uidNumber=1001

Confirm Creation

Press Enter to create the entry.The new entry appears in the tree under its parent.

Example: Creating a User

Parent: ou=users,dc=example,dc=com

Create Entry Dialog:
  RDN: cn=John Smith
  Object Classes: inetOrgPerson,posixAccount
  Extra Attributes: sn=Smith,uid=jsmith,uidNumber=1002,gidNumber=1000,homeDirectory=/home/jsmith

Result:
  Created: cn=John Smith,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com

After creating an entry, you can immediately edit it to add more attributes using the a key in the detail panel.

Example: Creating an Organizational Unit

Parent: dc=example,dc=com

Create Entry Dialog:
  RDN: ou=engineering
  Object Classes: organizationalUnit
  Extra Attributes: description=Engineering Department

Result:
  Created: ou=engineering,dc=example,dc=com

Deleting Entries

Deleting entries is permanent and cannot be undone. Always verify you’re deleting the correct entry.

From Tree Panel

Select Entry

Navigate to the entry you want to delete in the tree panel.

Press Delete

Press d or Delete.

Confirm Deletion

A confirmation dialog appears:

Delete entry: cn=John Smith,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com?

[Yes]  [No]

Press y to confirm or n to cancel.

From Detail Panel

Focus Detail Panel

Press Tab to focus the detail panel.

Press x

Press x to delete the current entry.

Confirm

Confirm the deletion in the dialog.

LDAP servers will reject deletion of entries that have children. You must delete all children first, or use a recursive delete tool outside of Loom.

Bulk Updates

For modifying multiple entries at once, use the bulk update feature:

Press F8

Open the bulk update dialog.

Choose Operation

Press F2 to cycle between:

Replace - Replace attribute value
Add - Add attribute value
Delete - Delete attribute value

Enter Filter

Enter an LDAP filter to match entries.Example:

(&(objectClass=person)(ou=engineering))

Specify Attribute

Enter the attribute name to modify.Example: department

Enter Value

Enter the new value.Example: Engineering

Execute

Press Enter to execute the bulk update.A status message reports how many entries were modified.

Example: Set department for all engineers

Operation: Replace
Filter: (&(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(ou=engineering))
Attribute: department
Value: Engineering

→ Modified 42 entries

Bulk updates affect all matching entries immediately. Test with a restrictive filter first to verify the correct entries are matched.

Read-Only Mode

To prevent accidental modifications, enable read-only mode:

[[connections]]
name = "Production (Read Only)"
host = "ldap.example.com"
read_only = true

In read-only mode:

All edit operations are disabled
Create and delete operations are disabled
You can browse and search normally
A “READ ONLY” indicator appears in the status bar

Use read-only mode for production servers where you only need to view data.

Refreshing Entries

If another user or process modifies an entry, you can refresh to see the latest values:

From tree: Press r to refresh children of a node
From detail: Press r to refresh the current entry’s attributes

The entry is re-fetched from the server with current values. Press Space in the detail panel to open a context menu with all editing operations:

Edit value
Add value (multi-valued attributes)
Delete value
Add new attribute
Copy value
Copy attribute name
Refresh entry
Delete entry

Schema Validation

Loom validates modifications against the LDAP schema:

Required attributes

Object classes define MUST attributes that cannot be deleted:Example: inetOrgPerson requires cn and snAttempting to delete a required attribute will fail with:

Error: Attribute 'cn' is required by objectClass 'inetOrgPerson'

Allowed attributes

Only MAY and MUST attributes from the entry’s object classes can be added:Example: Cannot add uidNumber to an entry that doesn’t have posixAccount object class.Add the object class first, then add the attribute.

Single-valued attributes

Some attributes only allow one value:Examples: displayName, uidNumber, gidNumberAttempting to add a second value will fail.

Attribute syntax

Each attribute has a syntax (string, integer, DN, etc.):Example: uidNumber must be an integerEntering “abc” will fail with:

Error: Invalid syntax for attribute 'uidNumber'

Press F6 to open the schema viewer and see object class definitions and attribute requirements.

Error Handling

If a modification fails, Loom shows an error message with details:

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
Insufficient access	No permission to modify	Check bind DN has write access
Object class violation	Attribute not allowed	Add required object class first
Constraint violation	Value doesn’t match syntax	Check attribute syntax requirements
Entry already exists	Creating duplicate entry	Choose a different RDN
Not allowed on non-leaf	Deleting entry with children	Delete children first

Check the log panel (F7) for detailed error messages from the LDAP server.

Keyboard Reference

Detail Panel Editing

Key	Action
`e` / `Enter`	Edit selected attribute value
`a`	Add new attribute
`+`	Add value to multi-valued attribute
`d` / `Delete`	Delete attribute value
`n`	Create child entry
`x`	Delete this entry
`r`	Refresh entry from server
`Space`	Open context menu

Tree Panel Editing

Key	Action
`a`	Create child entry
`d` / `Delete`	Delete selected entry
`r`	Refresh node children
`Space`	Open context menu

Bulk Update Dialog

Key	Action
`Tab`	Next field
`F2`	Cycle operation type
`Enter`	Execute bulk update
`Esc`	Cancel

Next Steps

Searching

Find entries to edit with LDAP filters

Schema Viewer

View attribute types and object class requirements

Bulk Update

Modify multiple entries at once

Export/Import

Batch operations with LDIF files

Get Started

User Guide

Features

Editing Attribute Values

Multi-Valued Attributes

Adding a Value

Editing a Specific Value

Deleting a Value

Adding New Attributes

DN-Valued Attributes

Using DN Search Mode

Creating New Entries

Example: Creating a User

Example: Creating an Organizational Unit

Deleting Entries

From Tree Panel

From Detail Panel

Bulk Updates

Read-Only Mode

Refreshing Entries

Context Menu

Schema Validation

Error Handling

Common Errors

Keyboard Reference

Detail Panel Editing

Tree Panel Editing

Bulk Update Dialog

Next Steps

Searching

Schema Viewer

Bulk Update

Export/Import

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

User Guide

Features

​Editing Attribute Values

​Multi-Valued Attributes

​Adding a Value

​Editing a Specific Value

​Deleting a Value

​Adding New Attributes

​DN-Valued Attributes

​Using DN Search Mode

​Creating New Entries

​Example: Creating a User

​Example: Creating an Organizational Unit

​Deleting Entries

​From Tree Panel

​From Detail Panel

​Bulk Updates

​Read-Only Mode

​Refreshing Entries

​Context Menu

​Schema Validation

​Error Handling

​Common Errors

​Keyboard Reference

​Detail Panel Editing

​Tree Panel Editing

​Bulk Update Dialog

​Next Steps

Searching

Schema Viewer

Bulk Update

Export/Import

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Editing Attribute Values

Multi-Valued Attributes

Adding a Value

Editing a Specific Value

Deleting a Value

Adding New Attributes

DN-Valued Attributes

Using DN Search Mode

Creating New Entries

Example: Creating a User

Example: Creating an Organizational Unit

Deleting Entries

From Tree Panel

From Detail Panel

Bulk Updates

Read-Only Mode

Refreshing Entries

Context Menu

Schema Validation

Error Handling

Common Errors

Keyboard Reference

Detail Panel Editing

Tree Panel Editing

Bulk Update Dialog

Next Steps